Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 114,653 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,653,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 114,653 shares during the quarter. Simon Property Group makes up 0.4% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $236,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cascade Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in Simon Property Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 14,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Simon Property Group by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Simon Property Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Simon Property Group by 1.9% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Simon Property Group Stock Down 0.3 %

Simon Property Group stock traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $142.36. 1,026,159 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,112,382. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.17 and a 52-week high of $157.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 1.65. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $149.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.34 by ($1.05). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 42.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $1.95 dividend. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.48%. This is a boost from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Simon Property Group’s payout ratio is presently 111.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SPG. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $139.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Simon Property Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.22.

About Simon Property Group

Simon is a real estate investment trust engaged in the ownership of premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations and an S&P 100 company (Simon Property Group, NYSE: SPG). Our properties across North America, Europe and Asia provide community gathering places for millions of people every day and generate billions in annual sales.